Palanpur (Gujarat), Aug 28 (IANS) The Youth Baton Relay (YBR) that began Aug 1 from Delhi Unioversity campus and which will cover nine states, 199 cities, towns and villages over a distance of 8,500 km with more than 7,500 volunteers on its way to the Commonwealth Youth Games, Pune 2008 reached Gujarat Thursday. The relay entered Gujarat from Shamlaji and reached Himmatnagar at 10.30 a.m. Thursday.

During a week-long stay in the state, the Youth Baton Relay would visit several places, including Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Surat and Vapi.

On Sep 3 the group will enter Maharashtra from Vapi.

“As part of the ‘Green Games’ initiative the baton relay will collect water from every state en route to Pune. The collected water will be used at the opening ceremony of the games to create a ‘Fountain of Youth’,” said Captain RK Singh, who is heading the group of 87 baton-bearers.

“A ‘Garden of Youth’ will also be created with the saplings brought in by the athletes from 71 participating nations,” said Singh.

“The main objective of our 8,500-km journey is to spread the message of oneness of humanity and create interest among the people for sports and games,” Singh said.

The week-long Commonwealth Youth Games, 2008 are slated to begin in Pune from October 12.